Meng Tzu

When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on any man, it will exercise his mind with suffering, subject his sinews and bones to hard work, expose his body to hunger, put him to poverty, place obstacles in the paths of his deeds, so as to stimulate his mind, harden his nature, and improve wherever he is incompetent.

Meng Tzu

Source: Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom Why the Meaningful Life Is Closer Than You Think, Pages: 135